Cause and Affect
by mick-kun
Summary: It was before the Respawn was perfected, teams just being made and everything set up to be perfect. Sniper and Scout were two of those collected into the teams in an early round, training on the same grounds and slowly becoming friends. ( Sniper/Scout)
1. Chapter 1: The Sniper

_Chapter 1_

How long would it be until the diversions stopped to bother the sniper in his recreation time, his once hensive mind hindered from the time away from his scope. He had spent a long month in his parents house where they both were eager for him to stay with them. They said that they were uneasy about their son being out in the world as an assassin. Of course, Jack obliged, not wanting to upset his parents by rejecting them, and spent a tranquil month in the presence of his family.

He was back in his Australian paradise under the heat, relaxed and calm without the loud noises from other people. The month had made the snipers aim different, more sloppy than before. Jack had usually trained his aim every day, but once he entered the zone of his parents house, the big rule his father had told him was to keep the guns out and away for the sake of his mother. He could follow those rules, being as stubborn as his dad he knew he wouldn't get anywhere with him if he tried to protest and they both knew his mom wasn't too tolerant of guns in her house.

Although, it was alright, for a long time he was able to relax and see his parents, he even had the family he missed. This made him realize a few thing- there were a few area's in his life that needed to be changed. Like his mom had said, he needed to find someone to love. Not being the romantic type, Jack shook it off without a second thought.

It itched at his mind, his fingers tense on the rifle as he tried to stay concentrated on his targets, searching for something his crosshairs could shoot at. He thought about the words his mom would tell him to change because she didn't approve of his life. Deep down, it secretly upset him.

Jack gave up, lowered the rifle from his eye, and let out a long sigh. He wasn't getting anywhere with the thoughts in his head. He mused it would do him better to relax for a bit since his mind was being too strenuous. Jack leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back, letting his face soak in the warm Australian sun, further darkening his skin. _This is peaceful_, he thought for a second, _my serenity, it could be possible to live out here forever and never have to have any of these worries_. He closed his eyes,drawing in another deep breath and listened to his surroundings, hearing the wind rustle against the dry grass.

Janett Pauling sat quietly in the front seat of their soon to be medic, Heinrich Fuhrmans', black Jaguar Mark VII/VIIM. She sorted through a few papers, her expression blank as she shifted some papers in the folder to a different pattern that made it easier to read. When Heinrich saw Pauling move his work around, he frowned at her and shook his head.

"Nein, I'm mostly handling ze papers, so they are in ze way I can read them." The medic grumbles, keeping his eyes forward and to the road, hands firmly gripped on the steering wheel.

They were driving over to the Mundy's house to find Jack Mundy, the sniper they wanted to hire for the possible teams. On his papers he was listed as one of the best, but the long distance was almost enough to discourage Heinrich from hunting him down. If it wasn't for the persistent Pauling, he might have tried to find someone else. He wasn't very fond of driving through the terreran of Australia in his car, but refused to complain. They dealt with the heat by blasting the AC, but kept their mouths shut, since they both already knew that they were uncomfortable in the unknown area.

Pauling furrowed her eyebrows,and lifted her head up and turned to look at Heinrich whose gaze was stubbornly focused on the road. He practically felt Pauling's annoyed glare at the fact that he had to have his papers in a certain order.

"I can put them back when we're on the plane, Heinrich," Pauling started, shaking her head as she turned back to the papers, and continued what she was doing. "Besides, we need the papers to find Jack Mundy's house, it's only temporary."

The chatter quieted down after that, Heinrich did not want to get into an argument with Janett, fully knowing she could win any argument the two could get involved with. She was one of the more headstrong people he knew, she stuck to her ideas and did not change without a real reason, and he respected her for that. Although, both were stubborn, they had started arguments over stupid things, especially under the pressure they were to find a sniper.

Neither knew if their soon to be sniper would be willing to come with them, which made them both slightly nervous, they did not want to disappoint their commanders. They had their plans, bribing was cheap but it was their best bet on hopefully getting a new team member. The promise of new weapons and a high pay was enough to encourage people to willingly say yes, though most were hesitant at first. Heinrich was glad to already to have some of their teammates. Lucian, their spy, was one of the hardest people to get to join the team, he was suspicious, but called back after a week of bribing to say that he accepted. Then there were the others- Jane Doe, for example, almost accepted on the spot when battles were brought up.

The rest of the drive was bumpy and quiet until they pulled up to a quaint little house, two stories and built out of wood. It was cute, but old fashioned, Pauling noting that it seemed to suit the small Australian neighborhood. Heinrich stopped in front of the house, turned the car off, and sat back into his seat. He waited for Pauling's confirmation that this was the correct house.

"This seems to be it…" Janett said slowly,as her eyes read the papers and glanced up to the houses address. Heinrich, satisfied, nodded his head and stumbled out of the car, his eyebrows furrowing at the heat, regretting that he wore his coat. He strode around the car and quickly opened up Janett's door, already starting to look beat down from the heat.

Janett stepped out from the car, looking slightly concerned at Heinrich, but shook her head and thanked him with a nod. Tightly clenching the folder in her hands, she strolled up to the front porch with Heinrich at her heels, and knocked lightly.

At first, there wasn't a reply, but after a while, Heinrich leaned in to listen to what was going on inside of the house, soon he could hear footsteps nearing the door. The front door opened soon after, revealing a small old woman, who greeted them with a kind smile. She was much smaller than the two of them, surprising them both because the files had said Jack was one of the tallest of anyone yet. Heinrich cleared his throat to speak but was interrupted by Pauling, who shot him a look out of the corner of her eye to tell him that she was going to be the one talking first.

"Hello," Janett spoke, her posture straight and a friendly smile on her face. She encouraged Heinrich to do the same with a friendly nudge from her elbow into his side.

"You're Karen Mundy, I presume?" The woman in front of her smiled, still looking a little confused and nodded her head.

"Thats me." Karen said, her voice soft and her eyes flicked between the two of them.

Of course she was confused why there was two strangers that she'd never seen in the area before, at her front porch, It was an area that everyone in the neighborhood knew each other, and the two seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. Pauling shifted nervously and extended her hand out for the woman to shake, introducing herself as Janett Pauling. Janett stopped, looking up at Heinrich who raised his eyebrows when the woman's attention turned to him.

"Wait in the car, Heinrich. I'll call you if I need you," Janett mumbled.

Henrich frowned and shook his head, sauntering back to the car and slid back into the drivers seat, now grumpy. Pauling shook her head and turned her attention back to Jack's mother.

"Sorry about my colleague, he's just over tired. Anyway, I was wondering if Jack was home?" She tried to give a sweet smile, feeling the heat starting to kick in. She expected Karen to turn to call for him, but was taken aback when his mother stared a bit. Then a large grin spread across her face, and she moved in closer to Pauling.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Karen whispered.

Pauling looked surprised at the assumption. It caught her off guard, as she stumbled over her words. She tried not to laugh and chose to shake her head instead .

"No? I'm… just looking for him," Pauling clears her throat, knowing she didn't fool Karen even if she was telling the truth.

Karen leaned on the door frame while giving her a knowing look. She nodded slowly and moved out of the doorway, waving her hand to signal Pauling to come in.

"Come inside, you look hot, we'll get you some water- JOHN WE HAVE A GUEST LOOKING FOR JACK- AND IT'S A GIRL!" Karen shouted from across the house.

Janett did not expect such a loud voice to come from the same source that the soft spoken words had been spoken just a few moments before. She found it oddly funny, but didn't want them to think she was dating their son. Sadly, Pauling was sure that any amount of head shaking would fail to convince them that she wasn't. Giving up, Pauling accepted her fate as she was led into a small living room. The room was cramped, but homey, decorated with several photos on the walls that very much suited the old house look from the outside. There was an old man sitting in a chair reading a newspaper, who looked up at his wifes call and then disinterestedly looked back down to continue reading.

"Really, I'm not dating your son, I just want to talk to him about a _job_ opening," Pauling says, annoyance slowly seeping into her voice.

She figured if his mom was this desperate for Jack to find a girlfriend, then he probably wasn't too lucky with the ladies, or just didn't care. Being a sniper, she figured he wasn't around other people too often.

"A job opening?" asked Jacks dad, John, whose name Janett remembered from the loud call Karen gave him.

Janett slowly nodded, trying to give them a look that she was there for only the job and not to take their sons heart away. Her look was returned with doubt.

"Well, he left awhile ago to go practice sniping. He should be in the outback near by, lucky for you," Karen gives her an encouraging smile.

Pauling tried to not look impatient with the information. Their flight was leaving that day and she didn't want to go on some grand journey to find Jack, but it had to be worth it in the end. Though at this point it was mostly the fact that she didn't want to deal with a grumpy medic, who only wanted to go back to the base and do his work. She knew when he heard the news he was going to be pissed.

Janett turned and headed to the door with a nod to Karen, who was looking a little disappointed that her guest was ready to leave so soon. Pauling didn't want to accidentally get caught up with his mom who was most likely going to ask her to have a cup of tea, or anything in hopes to get her to stay longer.

"I really have to find him. It's… urgent. Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Mundy," Janett said in a rush, waving to the couple as she opened the door, shutting it softly behind her. From inside Karen stared at the door, prancing back to her husband and nudged him, her expression excited.

"I hope little miss "it's urgent" is pregnant," she chirped.

John put his newspaper down quickly and returned a confused look to his wife.

"Bloody hell..."

Pauling took in a deep breath, returning to the car and opening up the door. The sudden blast of cold air surprised her, she expected the air to be on, but not cranked so high that it was actually a little chilly. The German didn't seem to mind, already used to the cold winters in his home towns. He turned his head eagerly at Pauling, and watched as she sat down in the passenger seat. Janett shook her head, her hands running over the folder, and her eyes focused on the steering wheel.

"Vell?" Heinrich persisted.

Janett closed her eyes and shook her head again.

"They said he's in the outback sniping. We're going to have to hunt him down," Pauling sighed, watching out of the corner of her eyes as the medics expression turned sour and his hand fell hard on the steering wheel. He wanted to leave as much as she did, but they both knew they were in too far to quit. Heinrich turned the key in the ignition, and pulled away from the house.

"Zen I guess the next stop is somevere in Australia- You're ze one who vas so big on finding Jack Mundy. 'No, ve have to get him even if he's in Australia'." Medic grumbled to her, his hands moving up in dramatic motions.

It was their best bet and she wasn't going to give up. It couldn't be too hard to find one sniper in Australia.

Several hours had passed before Jack realized his small break of relaxing had extended much longer than he initially planned. He sat out in the sun for awhile, enjoying all the peace and quiet. He soon realized he had lost track of time. Then again, it wasn't hard to when you had all the time in the world and nothing to much think about. Not having to worry about the troubles of life or having to focus on any job, which was something he always wanted and he was finally able to have it. As the sun started to set, he concluded that he needed to pack up and head back home.

His eyes moved to his rifle, which leaned against a cooler next to his chair where he last put it. Jack stood up with some trouble, not realizing how stiff his body could be after being in the same position for so long. He stretched out a bit, rubbed his head and grabbed his rifle. As he got ready to put his things back in his camper, which was parked a small distance away under a bare tree, when his hand went to move for the chair, the sniper stopped, his expression changing to confusion. He glanced over to see a black car moving in the direction of his camper. _What the hell?_ Sniper thought, his eyes narrowing and he hunkered down, looking through the scope of his rifle. The car was moving fast to his camper. _Thats definately not a good car for these parts of Australia, what the hell are you doing?,_ the sniper criticized, getting a little anxious the closer they got to his van.

He was unable to see who was inside, the windows tinted to the darkest they could get, but he could still easily kill the driver if he wanted to. He hesitated, not wanting to kill someone who could have just randomly found their way out here, but guessing how far out he was, they couldn't have been out here accidentally. As the car started to get closer to his camper, he decided that they were a little too close for comfort. His aim shifted to the tires, and with a single pull of the trigger, the car swerved out of its line.

Heinrich screamed loudly when one of his tires popped, followed by a large yelp from Janett when the car decided to swerve out of control. The car had been traveling at fast speed, and the sudden force of the steering wheel turning was threatening the car to tip. Luckily for the two inside, it only spun, suddenly ending in a heavy stop when Heinrich slammed his foot on the brake. The jolt caused both of their bodies to move with the movement in the car. Both had been shaken up and shifted around, which had only caused minor injuries.

Janett leaned forward, keeping her hand on her head and took a deep breath in. Heinrich stared blank faced in front of him, his hands gripped tightly onto the steering wheel as he shook. Once he realized that the car hadn't flip and everything was alright, he let out a long sigh. He did notice some minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing he couldn't handle.

"Janett." He says quietly, peering over at the girl.

He raised his eyebrows with worry, unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to grab her hand to remove it from the bump on her head. She had hit her head on the side of the car, but not hard enough to do any real damage. The bump was starting to swell, but she was lucky that it was only going to bruise. He would have been fired if he had accidentally gotten his bosses assistant in Australia hurt. He rubbed her back and nodded, turning the key so the car was off but the air still blasted.

"You should be fine, your head hurts, Ja?" Heinrich turned to her, as Janett nodded with furrowed eyebrows.

"I should be fine. Didn't expect that," she muttered back.

She shook him off with her hand and opened the door to go find out what happened. Heinrich nodded, getting out of the car to examine the damage to the tire, which was followed with an upset yell in German at the blasted tire. He put his hands up, looking around for the convict who shot his precious car, hissing unhappily.

"Scheiße Jack Mundy! Ve are here to talk!" he yelled loudly, running his hand through his hair as he looked back to his car with a small whimper.

Suspicion rose inside of Jack, but he also felt curious as to why they would have so blatantly pulled up and yelled their position out. They couldn't have been there to kill him, no, it was way too sloppy of them. He decided to investigate, slowly raising from his position.

Jack narrowed his eyes, not wanting to be too trusting. He lowered his gun, still holding it with both hands as he slowly makes his way to their car. It didn't take long for the man mumbling over his car to see him closing the gap between them. The strange man was speaking in… what sounded like German?

_ Now, that's odd._

Heinrich put his hands up, trying to not seem suspicious to the sniper. This was definitely him. Tall, tanned, and mostly always holding a gun. The medic didn't usually let himself have a gun pointed at him so freely, even keeping a loaded pistol in his back pocket in case things got ugly. Fortunately for Heinrich, Jack didn't fire. He just looked more confused and suspicious if anything, and Heinrich didn't blame him.

"Ah- Jack," Heinrich started, but his words were cut short as Janett stepped out of the car quickly, seeing the gun Jack held. Jack narrowed his eyes as he walked closer to the two, raising the gun a bit further.

"Who're you and how do ya know my name?" Jack questions.

Janett raised her hand for his attention, and when given, his expression became even more unhappy.

"Lower the gun, we don't want any harm," she said slowly, motioning for him to lower the gun.

Jack looked over the two, his gun slowly lowering, but still remaining at a height where he could shoot on a seconds notice.

"Ve are offering you a _job offer_ herr Mundy," Heinrich hisses, succeeding in convincing the sniper to lower his gun.

He looked a little annoyed, mostly caught off guard, but Medic was happy to put his hands down and have a gun out of his face.

_ Why in the bloody 'ell are these people out here offering me a job?, _Jack thought to himself, still confused about the whole situation. Guilt rushed over him when he looked down at the blasted tire of the car. He decided on not saying anything about it, choosing to shake his head instead.

"Job offer? I'm not lookin' for a job." Sniper grumbled, his eyebrows furrowing. He found it odd that they went to such lengths to find him, they should have waited for him to get out of these parts of Australia before they pressed him to join a job.

"It's a good offer. Work for our cause, Mr. Mundy, and you'll get the many perks-" Pauling was interrupted as the sniper shook his head and raised his hand.

"Perks?" Jack inquired, taking a step closer.

"Yes- Perks involving weapons…..a large pay….sniping every day?" she lists as she puts her hands together and walks over to the apprehensive sniper.

He was lost in his thoughts. He shook his head to stop the thoughts from distracting him and he studied Pauling for a bit.

"And what kind of _job_ will i be doing if it involves me snipin' every day?" Jacks voice had become suspicious again.

It seemed like he didn't know what to expect from a job that would offer things like that. He thought that this probably meant a couple jobs for assassinations. Even so, he still didn't understand why they came to such lengths. He noticed the female shift in her position, probably asking herself if she herself if they were just wasting their time, but after a second or two, she made a decision and pursed her lips.

"To work for Mann. Co., for our cause. You see, Mr. Mundy, we believe you are one of the most skilled snipers and we think you would be valuable to our team. Of course, there's more explaining if you do want to come with us. All I have to say is those perks come to effect the second you agree, and wouldn't you like to do something to help us? I can't answer too many personal questions about it, unless you're official about saying yes," Janett kept her voice firm, nodding her head as she pursued the sniper.

He seemed skeptical about her, his frown returning. It sounded shady, but he was always in those shady businesses. It _did_ peak his interest, the bribe of new weapons, and a large pay. Jack crossed his arms and nodded slowly.

"'lright, think I understand…. a bit? So if I accept, I'll be… fightin' for your…. _cause_, and I'll be getting a pay and new stuff, correct?" he didn't sound too thrilled over the fact that he was being pulled in with bribes, but he couldn't help it.

As much as he loved everything, his gun was getting old and even if he wasn't looking for a job and didn't want one, he really did need one.

"That's correct. So do you accept?" Pauling leans in, watching the doubtful sniper look at her, then over to his van and nod slowly.

"Yeah," He answers, jumping a little when Janett puts her hand forward quickly for him to shake.

He takes her hand, noting her grasp was firm, but still gentle. _She could probably be fightin' for this cause if she wanted to._

"Janett Pauling- just call me Pauling. Err- we have to leave, right now," Janetts' gaze moved over to Heinrich who had been worriedly looking back at the two. The medic waved, his look becoming relaxed when Pauling shot him a thumbs up to signal things worked.

"Though- Ms. Pauling, we're going to have to take my van, since..your car…" He starts as he shook his head.

Pauling nods slowly, looking at the camper as she walked over to medic to explain the situation. Jack watched the two bicker, the man putting his hands up and pointing to his car and then over to him. _Oops, _was all the sniper could think of before turning to the area he had his stuff and quickly picked it up, returning the items to his camper as he watched the two end their argument. Pauling returned as Heinich opened the door to his car to clear all of his things out, getting out boxes from the trunk and starting to carry them to the camper. He was upset that he was being forced to leave his car because Jacks' camper wasn't able to tow it.

"We can get the car back, right? Just call someone?" Pauling asks.

The sniper turned to look at the car, made a face and nodded slowly.

"Yeah." _The car is done for. _Jack tried not to glance at Heinrich, for fear of giving away the fact that his car was indeed helpless without it's tire and wouldn't be retrievable any time soon.

The sniper opened the passenger door for Janett, who smiled as she got inside. She tried to get comfortable, even if the camper at the moment was suffocating with heat while sitting in the shade. The sniper watched Heinrich slump into the back part of the camper, the obviously upset and grumbling German had his eyes glued to his car. There was nothing Jack could do about it, he could pay him back, but that seemed like too much work.

Shaking his head, the sniper climbed into the drivers seat. He turned the key and the car started up loudly. Jack leaned back into his chair and examined Pauling, who was getting out an old folded map and watched as she pointed to the nearest airport.

"It's there. We'll be going to Teufort," Janett spoke, turning to look at Heinrich in the back seat while she shook her head.

"After this, Lawrence is next, which Lucian is already taking care of."

_Written by Mick-kun_

_Edited by TweekTweeet_

_Neither of us own Team Fortress 2_


	2. Chapter 2: The Scout

Chapter 2: The Scout

Hands tightly gripped the frigid cell bars, his head pressed indolently on the door. Lawrence stood hunched over inside his prison, his head slowly lifting at the sound of the long door that separated him from freedom of outside unlock. Lawrence was beginning to wonder when they would come to gather him for his trial, which he wasn't all too excited for since he was expecting a couple years in jail.

He didn't have high hopes for himself, and they dropped even lower as he watched the guard patrol to his position. The man firmly told him to sit at the end of the cell while he opened the door. Lawrence obliged, putting his hands up with a fake scowl that didn't completely hide his nervousness. He sat on the creaky bench at the end like the guard said, and watched the guard open the door. The guard plodded cautiously over to Lawrence, and cuffed both of the younger mans wrists. Lawrence wasn't all too fond of being in the cuffs. Even so, he decided to remain silent and gave the guard a look as he was pushed roughly in front of him, the small shove reminding Lawrence he wasn't allowed to dawdle.

"Listen man, I ain't gonna run off," Lawrence snapped, and frowned to himself as the guard grumbled some words under his breath to _shut up kid _under his breath.

The guards "unheard" grumble was shook off with a shrug and a 'whatever, I get it'. The guard led him though a couple hallways, and past too many doors for Lawrence to keep track off. Finally stopping in front of a large wooden door, the guard firmly pulled it open and led Lawrence inside a large courtroom that was mostly empty.

Lawrence didn't have really anyone on his side, he _did_ after all rob a little old mans shop with a baseball bat, while he screamed his head off and nearly gave the poor old guy a heart attack. He felt guilty, but was too angry at the fact that no one decided to look into the real fact why he attacked the shop. The only reason he did it in the first place was that he just really wanted to help his Ma, who was struggling with her current funds.

At the end of the day it wouldn't matter, today was the day he was going to be tried and he knew the shop owner hated his guts after he put one of his store clerks in the hospital due to a hit to the head with his old baseball bat. The bills he would have to pay would devastate his mother, that is, if he had a chance to get out of his jail time. He knew he had probably put his family in a worse situation than they had already been in.

The guard put his hand on Lawrences' shoulder, giving him a brief look of pity before sitting him in a chair at a table in front of the judge. The wrinkles that lined the judges face didn't give away any emotion, and the man didn't even glance up when Lawrence scooted his chair closer with a loud squeak. His expression was blank as his eyes scanned the documents of the situation that Lawrence got himself into. Lawrences' eyes darted around in a panic, not seeing the lawyer that he tried to get on short notice.

_I'm fucking toast,_ Lawrence thought, as he put his head down slowly, and struggled with the fact he was going be stuck in that prison for awhile.

_Why even give me a trial if I know they're just going to throw me in another one of those cells to rot._ The man's expression twisted into a grimace when the judge cleared his throat, calling his name.

"Lawrence Fitzpatrick. You're here for the fact that you robbed a convenience store with a bat, and put one of the employees in the hospital. Correct?" The Judge interrogated in a slightly bored voice as he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. Lawrence sat still for a bit, before lifting his head to meet the judges stare. Lawrences voice caught in his throat so he shrugged and nodded in place of a verbal reply for now.

"Yeah." He replied after a pause, putting his hands on the table in front of him, which caused the cuffs to rattle slightly. He leaned in as well, his fingers starting to drum nervously on the wood.

"Thats really all there is to it- I kinda, ya know, can't avoid it so i'm pleadin' guilty," Lawrence's voice shook slightly.

The judge eyed with slightly squinted eyes as if he couldn't really see the skinny teen in front of him. Lawrence shifted uncomfortably and dropped his gaze to stare at the table. The judge settled back into his chair with a small grunt of annoyance and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door abruptly opening. A tall, thin man stood in the doorway with a file under his arm, trying to catch his breath as he fixed his tie. He cleared his throat, eyeing Lawrence whose head craned curiously to see who loudly intruded. Lawrences expression fell at the sight of his step dad.

"Gentleman," Lucian loudly projected. The judge slammed his mallet onto the desk and shot Lucian a tired and annoyed look.

"For gods sake can we at least have one trial where someone doesn't just burst in?" The judge hissed, watching Lucian confidently make his way to the front of the courtroom. The old man sat in his chair discontentedly and shot the guards a look when they closed in. They stopped and looked for the judges permission that Lucian was allowed to approach him. With a nod of approval, Lucian slowly sauntered to the judge and placed the files in front of him, leaning forward.

"This trial shouldn't be 'appening. These documents say Lawrence shouldn't be here, proof zhat he 'is in _our_ company's cause," Lucian says softly so only the judge can hear. The judges eyebrows shot up and he spluttered out something incoherent. The judge quickly regained his composure and gave Lucian a cold look. The older man scoffed, took the files into his hands and searched through them, his fingers lining up and down the rows until he stopped. His eyes shut with a tired sigh, and he closed the file.

"Lawrence Fitzpatrick, you're free to go," the judge sighs, leaning back in his chair with a large frown. Lawrence's eyebrows shot up, looking over to his step dad with a confused look. He didn't remember doing anything that would have freed him from going to jail, but _fuck it_, he wasn't going to complain.

Lucian nodded his head to the guards to take the cuffs off of Lawrence's hands and they compiled, a dirty look being shot the the Frenchman as they unlocked the cuffs from the Boston. Lawrence stood up happily, rubbed his wrists and gave a omnipotent sounding laugh. He walked over to Lucian and happily slapped his back. He gave a shrug to the judge and backed up to where the door was, while raising his hand.

"Later suckers!" Lawrence shouted, his stepfather trying to tell him to be quiet. When the doors closed and they were outside of the courtroom, Lawrence quickly grabbed Lucian with a worried look and shoved him against a wall. Lucian just groaned slightly in response.

"What the hell did 'ya do to get me outta there?" Lawrence hissed, Lucian slowly putting his hands up. With a scowl, the Frenchman swatted at his arm and shoved him off, narrowing his eyes.

"Listen Lawrence, I went through _hell _to find you, and zhe first thing that you utter is _what the hell Lucian_?" He growled, his accent more pronounced than normal. The tension left the older mans body and he pinched the bridge of his nose with a tired sigh. Lawrence watched him, feeling slightly guilty, but still crossed his arms in protest anyway. He hadn't expected to see Lucian at all in any time he was in jail, and had been expecting a harsh response from his step dad when the message was relayed to him that Lawrence was locked up in a cell.

Though, Lawrence was happy that his step dad did care. Although it was a silent emotion, it was mutual. It was just something not normally said between the two. Whenever one did show affection it was treated coldly, but the affection was appreciated between the mask of hatred. After all, Lucian did practically raise him.

"So, what's th' deal anyway, Luc?" Lawrence's voice softened, leaning in closer when Lucian suspiciously eyed the area for anyone.

"I'll 'ave to tell you on zhe way- Though I'll 'ave you know it involves a job," Lucian mumbled quietly, starting to walk forward. The young man already knew to follow, not needing to be told. Lawrence practically walked on Lucian's heels and eyed the area around them suspiciously.

"So, what does this, uh, _job _include anyway?" Lawrence asked uninterestedly.

Lucian eyed the shorter male in a scolding way, not responding right away as they made their way to his car. Lucian gently opened up the door to his car, giving a cold look to Lawrence as the younger male sloppily threw open the passenger door and slumped in.

"The job involves a long battle," Lucian began.

He cleared his throat as he turned the key in the engine and listened to the car noisily thunder to life. The Frenchman kept his eyes forward and away from his stepson. He felt Lawrences confused stare bore into the side of his head, but he didn't look at him yet. The subject was something he had to burn into his mind and he wasn't all too fond of explaining it all over again. Then again, this wasn't like a summer camp, which meant there wasn't a pamphlet to show Lawrence. With a quick glance at the waiting males face, Lucian started to wish it was something like a summer camp.

Clearing his throat for a second time, he started to drive out of the prisons parking lot. His fingers began drumming on the steering wheel as he tried to map out where to begin, not sure of what would scare the young Bostonian off. Either way, he was going with him to the airport and there was nothing either of them could do now that he accepted. Even though, he was a tad bit nervous that if he gave out the information, that Lawrence would refuse and he'd have a dirty situation on his hands.

Though, he could trust him- he _had_ to trust him if anything. He wanted to believe that his stepson would come without a hassle, and not with only bribes. The money part was the big thing he knew would keep Lawrence interested in the job, even if it was hard. They were lucky to have a good pay, which was mostly to keep their hopes up and stay for the battle. Lucian did wish they would do the usual _sit down and let us explain to you everything_ teachings they did for the few of them that accepted earlier on.

It wasn't as easy with Lawrence, knowing his stubborn and non-patient personality. Lucian decided to get it out of the way for him and to tell him now. The male had already let himself get comfortable in the passenger seat, lazily waiting for an answer, the anticipation showing in the way he swallowed and shifted.

"I'll tell you zhe basics for now, if zhat's alright. Then you can decide if its somezhing you want to join for us- of course you'll 'ave a hefty pay, and zhey'll explain more when we get there," Lucian started, looking in his mirror for any cars before turning onto a long road. The drive would be a good hour of sitting in the summer heat, awkwardly trying to avoid the topic. Lawrence was still watching him expectantly, and had begun to chew on one of his fingernails.

"Its a battle between land, between Redmund and Blumund. Apparently, zhis is a battle zhat's been going on for a long time. But, of course, many of zhe mercenaries died, zhey were fighting to the death, after all. Well, zhe woman watching over zhese battles is referred to as zhe Administrator," Lucian continued, trying to remember the full story. He leaned back into the drivers seat, let one hand slip into his lap, and gripped the wheel tightly with the other.

"Zhese mercenaries were the best of the best, you see. Death was uncommon on the field, but happened enough to where the battle came to many stops. Thus, having to fly in rare members, rare classes such as, hm, snipers. Of course, if zhey died zhey 'ad their subs, and so on if you are following. Zhis is where you come in- or more along zhe lines of, we come in," Lucian finished, his gaze flashing over at Lawrence. It confused the Bostonian, he didn't know where Luc was going with his explanation, but mostly he didn't want to be risking his life so easily if these 'mercenaries' were dying and didn't seem to hold a high position.

"Now, since zhe battle 'as been stopped at a stalemate, zhe Administrator decided to… hold things for a new project. But she was sensitive not to test on any Red or Blu members," Lucian grimaced, still not happy with the fact that some of their members were nearly test dummies.

"I ain't followin'. There's already a team?" Lawrence pursued.

"Well, of course, there's a company for both Blu and Red. It's not like zhis battle 'asn't been going on for awhile, there's classes for both Blu and Red zhat zhey fly in. Both sides have their fair quality of members. All of you joining at this point, us, me and you, are new to zhis battle. We don't quite fit into these types of categories yet. We are zhe new ones, facing a stalemate in a different way zhan before. It's zhe longest stalemate zhis battle 'as seen which called for drastic matters."

Lawrence wrinkled his nose, leaned forward, and clapped his hands together. He thought about what he was told, the silence lasting for about a minute.

"Why the hell would I be riskin' my life if I already know I'm gonna die? That's just bullshit, Luc," Lawrence hissed. His expression quickly turned to anger, which helped to conceal the surprise at the fact the Frenchman would bail him out just to put him into a battle so he could die. It's not like he was even ready for anything big like that. His emotions weren't even done fully developing, nor his body physically ready for something that harsh.

"Yes- but zhere's more to it-" Lucian started.

"More than bein' put in a field to be killed for, I dunno, money that I probably won't live to collect?"

"If you would just listen Lawrence, wasn't it your smart mouth zhat got you in situations like this in zhe first place?" Lucian snapped, as he watched the Bostonian deflate back into his seat with crossed arms and a scowl.

"You're tryin' to get rid of me," he grumbled, passive about trying to guilt trip him. Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration building up in his chest. Sometimes talking to the younger male was a bit hard since his emotions were still so spread out and even as predictable he was, sometimes even Luc couldn't read him.

"Zhere's a respawn," Lucian said evenly, trying to get him to hush down. His words peaked Lawrence's interest, even though he was still confused. Despite the anger he felt, he decided to avert his attention to the Frenchman.

"I don't really get what you're sayin', Luc," Lawrence tried to continue, but shut his mouth at the look Lucian shot him after interrupting. It was one of Lucian's biggest pet peeves when Lawrence wouldn't let him finish and would instead choose to just bombard him with questions.

"We 'ave a doctor, and an engineer working on zhe respawn. You see, once you're hooked up to it you will never die- even if you do. So let's just say, you get shot in zhe face, you will come back good as new."

"Shot in the face? I'd never let shit like that happen, Luc, who do you think you're talkin' to-"

"Lawrence," Lucian growled with a pointed glare shot at the Bostonian. He didn't want to be rude to him, but sometimes it's all he could do when his sentences were starting to mix with Lawrence's. After all, it wasn't his fault that Lawrence's sentences _started in the middle of his. _

"Here's zhe big idea, if it'll make things easier to understand. A stalemate broke out, which is quite rare actually. A stalemate zhat couldn't be solved by putting other members on zhe field since death rates got too high. It started to get way too expensive, so, zhey made a respawn and we're to battle out the stalemate. Make sense?" Lawrence nodded slowly to Lucian.

"So you won't die, you'll be killing zhe other team, the other team killing you, with nobody actually dying. If you fight, you get the money, zhe benefits, and the weapons." The Frenchman nodded to show he was done, his eyes looking at him, waiting for an answer. Though the bribes caught Lawrence's attention again, he sat back quietly this time and thought over it. He didn't understand and it seemed fishy, but if he was getting paid, he wouldn't have to worry about causing trouble for his ma. The situation was odd, but in the end he had to take it, and he did.

"Yeah I guess- sure- but, are we goin' there now?" Lawrence asked, casually sinking back into his chair. Lucian stretched a hand out to the road, implying this obviously wasn't the way to their younger male let out a snort to tell the older male that his humor wasn't appreciated.

"And one thing, half my pay goes to my ma, alright Luc?" He said softly, watching Lucian's expression turn from bored to slightly sad. It was all the older male could do for his wife in the end, give her a bit of the pay, but he hated the fact that he would allow her son to help her out as well. Lucian loved Julie with all of his heart and it was almost heartwarming to hear that his step-son cared as much as he.

"Oui. I promise it'll get to 'er," Lucian mumbled gently, then turned his eyes back to the long road to the airport. It was going to be a long drive of Lawrence shifting in his seat and trying to bring up small topics about the upcoming job. In the end, Luc didn't want to have to pull out the threats on him, even if he could tell Lawrence was still unsure.

That could cause some small problems.

Heinrich was working diligently in his office, his hands trying to quickly work on the medi-gun. He was half focused on his attempts to not breathe any of the dust that was in his office that had gathered since he'd been gone on his trip to Australia. He hadn't heard back from Lucian since he left for Boston a couple days before, and he should have returned yesterday. The uneasy feeling had left a weird feeling in the medics gut, but he trusted that Lucian could handle any problems they would've encountered. He let Lucian work his own way like Lucian let him work with Janett to retrieve their next Sniper.

Though the trip put him behind schedule, their engineer, Dell, had already gotten a bit further with perfecting the respawn. It would be successful, and once the respawn worked, then his medi-gun would work. He hoped the one that was currently in his hand would work eventually. His many other medi-guns that failed to pass any test were thrown into a corner of boxes, long forgotten and would probably be melted down for scrap metal. It would be worth it in the end, their job would be completed.

Outside the medibay, through a small window that was open, he heard the few members chatting and then a car pulling up. Heinrich hoped that his wishes came true, that it was Lucian and their new Scout pulling up. He was curious about their newest member, though from what Lucian told him about the Boston male, he would be the youngest and apparently was a loud mouth. That was the last thing they needed, since the first scout they recruited was already loud mouthed, but a bit more sophisticated.

He still stayed in his office, not wanting to venture and decided to let anyone who arrived come to him if they needed him. He listened intently, accidentally letting one of his fingers brush off the medigun and nearly giving him a cut. It wasn't long before the doors had opened and while turning his chair, a smile graced Heinrichs face when Lucian stepped inside.

Lucian simply greets him with a nod, letting Lawrence walk inside with a curious gaze. At first glance, Lawrence studied the medic, his features were hard and older, looking exhausted with deeps black and purple bags under his eyes. His hair was disheveled and on his desk was a large object that Lawrence couldn't identify. The room was fairly dusty, plenty of boxes were open and sprawled around with metal parts inside. It wasn't a medi-bay yet, but he could tell by the features that were already set up, that this is where he would go if he was injured.

"Hi," Lawrence mumbled after a awkward stare. He was being eyed by Heinrich and eventually he stuck out a large hand, .

"Hi- You're going to be ze new scout, I prezume?" Heinrich's words more more directed in the direction of Lucian, who simply nodded as well.

"Yeah- 'm Lawrence- The Scout? I don't really understand everything' if thats, ya know, okay, but I accepted. Are ya the medic Luc told me about?" Lawrence took his hand, firmly shaking. Heinrich nodded and leaned back, returning to his seat and rotated so his position facing the medigun like before.

Out of the corner of his eye, Heinrich watched Lucian wave a hand and slip out of the medibay as quietly as possible. He was eager to get back to his own work in his room that he had suspended since he had to go retrieve Lawrence.

"Lucian told you zhe big idea, ja?" The tired doctor mumbled, his voice slightly bored. Lawrence could tell that sleep was something rare to him. The way he spoke, moved, and looked screamed that he needed to get more sleep, but the only thing keeping him up at this time was desperation and coffee. He wondered how stressed the situation was as the respawn was being made, since he already sensed that the aura in the building was harsh and drained.

It wasn't all too impressive to the younger male, the respawn seemed like a dumb thing that wouldn't work. Something like that was unheard of and virtually impossible, he expected to see the whole plan crash and watch everyone have to move onto plan B. Lawrence's eyes moved to the medigun under Heinrich, uninterested, but slightly curious as to what it would accomplish for the new teams and battle.

"Yeah. I somewhat understand...like I said. Seems pretty dumb to me," Lawrence remarked. Heinrich remained unfazed at the slight insult directed at him and his plan. It's not like his plan being stepped on was a new thing to Heinrich, even to him the main idea of the Respawn plan seemed dumb, but not impossible. Heinrichs expression turned into a grimace, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. At this point, he was done with the introduction and wanted their new Scout to leave and look around.

Heinrich started to understand what Lucian meant that his personality was a little odd, in the nicest way possible. He turned away from his work and leaned forward, watching the confused man look around, then slowly return the look.

"Make friends. I don't care. But don't get too friendly, ve are splitting all of you soon or later. Just don't be sassy- or an asshole. Ve already have someone like that," Heinrich scowled. Lawrence shifted his weight from foot to foot and raised his eyebrows.

"Asshole? I ain't an asshole, its called bein' assertive and tellin' the truth. Besides, if you're talkin' about the other asshole, I hope you're talkin about you," He snapped back, his attention turning to the door, which the Medic noticed was ajar from his colleague patiently waiting for the conversation to end between the two before noticing his presence.

"Everything okay?" He asked, a southern accent spilling over his tired words. Lawrence began to wonder if the jaded and tired sound of everyone's voice was a common trait for most of the mercenaries.

"Ah- Ja. Dell, this iz our new Scout, Lawrence. Zis is Dell, he'll show you vhere you are staying. He's our engineer, ze second person vorking on zis project vith me und everyone else. Und- Lawrence?" The shorter male took a glance up at Heinrich when he was addressed.

"I'd keep zhat smart mouth of yours closed. Vouldn't vant to make enemies on day one, vould you?" Heinrich turned away from the two, going back to working on the medigun that was nearly completed.

Lawrence shot a cold look at the back of Heinrichs head, his eyes already narrowed when he walked toward Dell. Lawrence watched the friendly smile of Dell appear, the air around him more friendly than the overly tired Medic. Lawrence felt he could trust him more, but he shook off the statement to make friends. He was here to do a job after all, he didn't need friends or anything that came with it. All he wanted to do was do his job, get the money and repeat.

"Howdy there, I wouldn't mind him. It's been awhile since we've both got a good amount of rest. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it here, it's a little stuffy, but let me show you to your room." Lawrence took a mental note that Dell was a lot more pleasant than Heinrich, Lawrence showing some small preference over him. He had a friendly face, though his hand shake was a lot more firm than he would have expected.

The shorter male turned down a corner, looking back and encouraging him to follow. Lawrence trailed behind him, eyes looking around the empty white walls. It was boring,the long hallway consisting of a large amount of doors against white walls. The air was heavy, the building hot and stale from the summer outside. The area altogether didn't please him, but he figured it would be better if he kept his words to himself. The silence was almost awkward at first, the only sound being made was the soft tap of their shoes clacking on the tile floor.

"Uh. Are we usin' guns? Like, Killin' people? I don't have any trainin'," Lawrence forced out after the silence had gotten too long, receiving a curious glance from Dell. The brief look turned to amusement, and he chuckled to himself faintly. They ambled down the hallways for a bit longer, taking a couple sharp turns until the Engineer stopped in his tracks at a blank door. Dell turned to the door, getting out a golden key out of his back pocket that read 012 and quickly unlocked it, and gave it a small push so it would open. He placed the key in the palm of Lawrence's hand and stepped back.

"Of course we'll be killing people. Not for real like before, with guns. You'll start your training in three days, you can just relax for now and we'll get everything sorted through for you." Dell patted the males back lightly, looking inside of the almost empty room that only consisted of a table and a white bed. It reminded Lawrence of jail, except here he had more freedom, and he wasn't going to be served horrible food- at least, he hoped.

"Why three?" Lawrence faced Dell, pursing his lips, excited to begin anything related with training and guns. He had only held a gun a couple times, mostly in his childhood when he found a revolver accidentally in his parents room when Lucian moved in.

"Our trainers are a bit delayed. Get comfortable, try to sleep a bit. See you when you wake up." Dell flashed a smile at him, leaving Lawrence at his door. He stood there a bit confused. He didn't question anything though, he just stepped inside of his room and shut the door lightly.

The first thing he noticed was how small the room was. It was stuffy and windowless, and the small ceiling light didn't seem like it would cast much light. The room collected heat as the day passed, and he could tell he was going to be constantly hot while he was inside of the room. Lawrence hoped this wouldn't be the room he would stay in for the time he was going to be fighting, because if it was, he was not going to be very happy.

Sitting on the bed, the only nice thing about it was that it wasn't as hard as a rock and the sheets welcomed his back as he laid down. Lawrence didn't realize how tired he was himself, his eyelids already threatening to force themselves down, his body drained from his long day and screaming for sleep.

He drifted into a slumber with the people he had met that day on his mind, but mostly his mother was in his thoughts. Whatever was going to come next, he was ready to take it and refused to back down. Besides, how complicated could everything about this plan be?

_AN: Hey guys sorry for the long wait, both of us have been trying to finish up the end of the school year and got distracted with life. We'll try to have another update in the next two weeks, thanks!_

_u v u -love Mick n Tweek_


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